Claviceps Tul., Annls Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 3 20: 43 (1853)

MycoBank number: MB 1092; Index Fungorum number: IF 1092; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01316; 63 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 40 species with sequence data.

Type species – Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.

Notes – Doubts concerning the taxonomic status of this genus were resolved in recent years with molecular phylogenies and Claviceps was confirmed as the type genus of Clavicipitaceae (Píchová & Parbery 1999, Yokoyama et al. 2006, Sung et al. 2007, Tanaka et al. 2008). Claviceps species can infect about 600 species of monocotyledonous plants (Hulvová et al. 2013) and the asexual morph, growing on honey dew, is reported in Sphacelia. The type of Sphacelia, S. segetum, has long been regarded as the asexual morph of C. purpurea (Tulasne 1853). The genus infects grasses and cereal crops and produces multi-colored sclerotia with 1-celled, hyaline, ephelidial conidia and stipitate and capitulum stromata with partially embedded perithecia (White et al. 2003).

Species

  • Claviceps purpurea